So, who is the heroine?

I heard that there are no snow dancers in the book at all really. I wonder who the heroine is....I am not that jazzed about a Psy/Psy pairing...but I am really excited about the excerpts Ive seen and Can't wait for Kaleb! Finally!

It's probably Sahara, Faith's cousin...But, tomorrow we will know for sure, because in the two chapters Nalini will release the Heroine's name must be mentioned.

Can't wait to read it! Their relationship mustn't be a easy one....

I too lean towards Sahara as the heroine. I simply can't think of any other options, minus someone completely new (although I suppose a one sentence mention still qualifies as a new character).

What's clear from the excerpt is that she's Psy, height 5'2", midnight blue eyes, black hair with red gold strands.

No hint of what her power is, nor the level.

BUT why would a Psy be kept in complete isolation with permanent surveilance, and active surveilance at that, not just passive, if there wasn´t some gain, that could be had from said surveilance?

Prediction for example

Yes, she has to be a NightStar

From Blaze of Memory, we know it is possible to keep Psy prisoner mentally. From the excerpt, we know that Kaleb and she last meet in a very bloody situation. So, perhaps she saw something she should not but was too valuable to kill or wipe out her mind. This bolsters my thought that she is F-Psy and thus Sahara. I am very curious who kept her prisoner, I am also curious why but I am pretty sure it was to show her talent. I am assuming that last time Kaleb and she meet would have something to be with Enrique. I wonder if she will remember Kaleb right away?

So I've been re-reading CBI and came across this section regarding Kaleb's history which may be relevant.

He was placed in a training facility age 3. there was a three month gap in his training log age 7 years and 4 months the gaps repeated themselves and each one was one week after a training session with Enrique.

He had a 'decline' aged 16 which started 24 hours after he returned from a training sessions with Enrique and lasted for a month before he stabilised, Nikita notes a swan changeling had disappeared 7 days before Kalebs decline and summerised that he had been Enriques accomplise.

Maybe his heroine is half Psy half changeling... MAybe she is the Swan. That would explain the "blood-soaked encounter, an encounter where she’d screamed for so long and in such agony she’d caused damage to her throat that would’ve needed medical attention to repair."
And there's other thing, do Psy like light? Because he says something like :"(...) the painful brightness was a normal part of her existence (...)".... this sound to me like a changeling....Maybe Enrique did to the Swan what he tried to do with Brenna....
I don't know, it appears that the more we read, the more doubts we have...

I think the painful brightness was meant to be torture. In the excerpt, Kaleb wonders if the brightness was punishment for breaking the water bottles. I think it more likely Kaleb and his Psy lady were there for Enrique's killing of the swan changeling.

Yeah, but he said that in a way that sound like he was remembering.. like, the brightness was essential to her existence before everything happen (which we don't know what was) and she changed in that person he hardly recognizes...Her captors knew how light was important to her and used that as a punishment....I don't know....

I really think that he is pondering the brightness mostly so he try to make her comfortable in his home (he built the suite with no windows so she would not panic if she was used to closed spaces). Changelings would HATE the brightness Kaleb describes in her cell, it would hurt their senses. I really do think the mystery lady has to be Psy, but I think it possible her mind was messed with and she could have some Changeling traits (reverse of Brenna's case).

So, someone posted this link on the Spoiler comment thread on Nalini's blog:
https://i.servimg.com/u/f78/15/84/42/96/lovele11.jpg
It is a photo from what appears to be a book catalog with a book blurb of HoO in German. Don't go to the page if you don't want to actually know the heroine's name. Even you don't read German, you can see the character's name. I hid the name in the spoiler if you want to know.

Spoiler:

I did a rough translate, otherwise there doesn't seem to be anything earthshattering and there does not appear to be anything on the Ghost. To our German friends, are there any surprises?

Nice find. Only I'm a bit disappointed if that's indeed authentic.
I didn't want it to be Sahara. It's that name! I just can't stand it. Wahhhh! T_T

Yes, it's kinda expected what with her name Nightstar and Kaleb's charm, but I still hoped it would be someone else. I wanted it to be the Swan. I wanted to meet a changeling from a different species. boohoo!

Anyway, I'm wondering why kidnap Sahara for her foresight when she's not a cardinal like Faith? Why not kidnap Faith instead? I mean, Faith said that only Sione matches her ability or something.
So maybe Sahara was kidnapped for something other than foresight. :3

It really doesn't bother me, but I do sympathize. I understand when the author does one thing, even a small thing, and it just rubs you the wrong way. I actually like that it is a Psy heroine. For some reason, I can only picture Kaleb with a fellow Psy. I am excited to have confirmation on the heroine (again if it trustworthy, it does look legit), but people on the comment thread talked about a BIG spoiler, so I kinda expected something about the Ghost and was a little disappointed. From the excerpt and everything, who else but Sahara was it really going to be?

I will have to condition myself with her name, unless Nalini changes it like she did Katya? Ashara instead of Sahara. lol.

I also think it's legit. That orange knife? thingy used as a bookmark convinced me. haha!

I don't really mind Psy heroines, I just wished that the psy girls were given more fascinating abilities like Judd's and Sienna's.
E Psy, M Psy, F Psy are just 'meh' to me.
Sorry to be so picky, I wanted a female Arrow as h if they're going to be Psy. But, oh well...T_T

tsk. hey, Aden is TP and M and Tanique is Ts. Don't tell me, they're boring

It wouldn't be consistent with the world building if the Psy had too many different abilities. With the implementation of Silence, they had tried to prune out as many mutations as possible.

Hmm Aden has a dangerous, subtle TP that I won't discount. hehe. xD And there's a reason why he's the Arrow leader. >:3

Ts...can't recall what that is, something about finding human remains? o_o; I'm quite sure it was mentioned in BoJ?

I'm not really looking for new abilities, just not something as boring as emotional healing or foreseeing the future...personally, I don't think anyone should even see the future, because the actions done to prevent so and so from happening will surely affect other things...kind of like a chain reaction.^^

If we're talking of healing, I'd like it to be like Judd's Tk Cell. Patch up broken bodies.

Well, maybe it just seems boring because the Psy are conditioned to think that they can only use their abilities for one thing. Take your example of Judd. In the beginning, he was convinced that his abilities were only for killing. It's only later he discovers the healing aspects. Besides foreseeing, it is mentioned that Faith has some backsight abilities. And it was my impression that most of what she sees isn't definite, just what possibly could happen in the future. E-psys don't only do emotional healing--as Sascha reads in the book on E-psy by Alice, E-psys also have a dark side with emotional manipulation and riot control.

Tanique is actually Ps, for psychometry. As Sophia explains in BoJ (page 195): "Psychometrics sense the imprints of the past...they usually work verifying the age and provenance of works of art, other expensive objects--but I've heard it said that some can also pick up 'echoes' of events that took place in a particular location." Tanique was sent to locate the bones of one of the victims of a serial killer.

I know that E Psy can stop mob attacks or something. But really...it feels as if Nalini is trying to compensate the...err, 'mediocrity' of E Psy in later books. xD
I guess what bothers me most is the goody goody "when I harm others it rebounds back to me worse." like they're people incapable of ebul.^^ Oh yeah, they'd manipulate emotions but not because they're bad, but because they think it would help.
Sure, Sascha doesn't do anything without asking permission, but I think Adria described it best when she said that there's something about people sensing their emotions --it's an intrusion, a breach of privacy. Whether deliberate or not.

re: Ps.
I see, that's why I was so confused with Ts, I kept on forming words around Ts. hehe. Thanks for the quote.

This German catalogue reveals the main heroine. You don't need to understand German. The name is obvious enough.

https://i.servimg.com/u/f78/15/84/42/96/lovele11.jpg

All credits go to Cally from GoodReads

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/624375907#comment_75063869